The ties between the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Communist Party of India (CPI) have touched a low ebb with the latter coming out in the open against a hartal announced by the Munnar Protection Council in 10 grama panchayats of Devikulam taluk on November 24.
The CPI Devikulam mandalam committee has said the hartal is aimed at scuttling the title deed distribution as it will expose the encroachers. The hartal is supported by the land lobby, encroachers, and the resort lobby, it added.
The parties have been at loggerheads over the encroachment allegations against former Minister Thomas Chandy and Joice George, MP.
The CPI had supported the Devikulam Subcollector in the probe into the land grab charges against the MP and his family. The Revenue Department had cancelled the ownership right of 20 acres allegedly encroached upon by him and his family at Kottakambur in Devikulam taluk.
Revenue Minister E.Chandrasekharan’s stance on the issue has led to misinterpretations. He only said the MP did not encroach on the revenue land. It is also normal that an order of the Subcollector could be reviewed.
The Kottakambur issue was a case of forging of documents under power of attorney in the name of Tamil residents by Paliyath George, father of Mr. Joice George, who transferred the ownership to the members of the family.
The MP took the stance that he did not purchase any land at Kottakambur and he got it as ancestral property. It was a clean chit to him on formal terms.
The stance adopted by the CPI in the charges against Mr. Chandy and Mr. George did not differ. The party sees the hartal as a follow-up to the Kottakambur issue. The CPI(M) is considering the episode as a CPI bid to gain political mileage.
The open clash between Munnar MLA S.Rajendran and CPI district secretary K.K.Sivaraman also did not help the issue.
The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party have also openly come against the hartal. How it will help in consolidating a stand on land grab issues is awaited.
